Town Square

Spanking is the issue at hand

Original post made
by dolores ciardelli, editor of Danville Express,
on Feb 22, 2007

Were you ever spanked as a child? Do you spank your children? We have a story running soon about Jordan Riak, an Alamo resident who has worked hard to get corporal punishment out of schools - and out of homes. Tell us your thoughts.

Posted by member
a resident of Green Valley Elementary School
on Mar 7, 2007 at 7:32 pm

Spanking seemed to be the time-out of the fifties. The principal at Green Valley Elementary used a belt or a shoe depending on the crime. At home it was a hair brush on the bare bottom and graduating to a metal spatula - caught one of those in the face causing a slight laceration.
My first son got a mild tap on the behind just to get his attention and that stopped pretty quickly, like when he was 4 - just seemed like the wrong approach and took me too long to figure out. The second son never had a spanking and I don't think any child deserves a spanking. A little anger and thought management is better than the example you set for a child by administering physical or mental abuse.

Posted by Gina
a resident of another community
on Mar 8, 2007 at 4:00 pm

I was spanked as a child. So was my husband. So were my parents and his parents. So were my brother and my sister-in-law. None of us has ever been in jail, divorced, or in therapy for anger management, alchohol or drug abuse. And we've never beaten our children, but we did spank them.
My niece wasn't spanked as a child. She was kicked out of Girl Scouts because the leaders couldn't handle her behavior. She didn't have many friends because the parents couldn't stand to be around her (that included her aunts and uncles). She's now a teenager and uncontrollable.
You can't reason with a 2-year-old. Time out and restricting privileges work to a point. But there are some times and some circumstances that call for a swat on the botton to make the point. And it is a disservice to our children when they don't learn early in life that there are consequences for some behaviors, and those consequences will cause pain. Better a little pain as a child as a lot of pain (physical, emotional) as a teen or adult. Those are the pains that don't go away with a hug.

Posted by anonymis
a resident of another community
on Mar 9, 2007 at 1:57 pm

I was belted a lot for not doing well in school or misbehaving at home or in social gatherings. I was belted for every "F," "D," or "U" I got on my report card. And when i wouldn't stop crying, I would get belted some more to stop. I remember being spanked by a slipper when I decided to pour all the detergent in the washing machine. I got smacked with a ruler when I went into my mother's purse. I got smacked when I didn't get the answers in my homework. When i said profanities, I my dad would pull my tongue out and then I would get slapped in the head.
I could recall my father getting so angry that he flung the belt in my direction and I had to duc for cover. It got to a point where I would forget my homework a lot and I would get punished for it. I just couldn't take it anymore. One time I jumped from off the roof of my house and ran away from home.
My dad grew up with harsh physical discipline. He did the best he could. It was part of his culture. He thought this way of handling things was the best for his child. It wasn't. As I grew up, there was a lot of hate and anger that I had toward my family. There was a shit load of anger I had to unload. acceptance and forgiveness are i realized the only things to move the anger.
I personally wouldn't spank. There's got to be other ways to vent your anger and make point.

Whenever I hear defenders of spanking enthusiastically recount their own well-spanked childhoods and cite themselves as living proof of its benefits, I feel compelled to boast a little bit about my own childhood. I want to tell them about our family car that pumped dark smoke from the exhaust had no seat belts, about home sweet home where the walls were painted with lead-based paint and where the air was heavy with tobacco fumes whenever the grown-ups were around. I'll tell them about a family that never owned an baby car seat, and about my teen years on a bicycle without wearing a helmet. Ah, for the good ol' days! Now answer me honestly, didn't my generation turn out okay?

Posted by Susie
a resident of another community
on Oct 11, 2007 at 9:38 pm

We got spanked with a paddle at school. They weren't allowed to pull our pants down and they only spanked 5 times. But my parents used a whip on the bare bottom at home, and I would get about 20 lashes. I would never have dreamed of doing some of the stuff kids do today.

Posted by anton
a resident of another community
on Sep 12, 2008 at 10:11 am

honestly,, i believe that a child should be spanked... i am only 17 and i aggree with the idea. lets take a trip back to our own child hoods shall we? what was the one child hood fear we had besides the boogy man?? that was fear of our parents.. first of all lets get this straight. i do believe that there is a certain age that punishment should be taken (between 4 and 9) cause any earlier than that and the child barley knows right from wrong and any older than that the child will start to show resentment. you are never to hit in an angry way but just to let the child know that he/she has done wrong. once the child knows that a slap on the wrist or spanking is associated with with doing something wrong the child will be more likely Not to do something wrong.

Posted by anton
a resident of another community
on Sep 12, 2008 at 10:11 am

honestly,, i believe that a child should be spanked... i am only 17 and i aggree with the idea. lets take a trip back to our own child hoods shall we? what was the one child hood fear we had besides the boogy man?? that was fear of our parents.. first of all lets get this straight. i do believe that there is a certain age that punishment should be taken (between 4 and 9) cause any earlier than that and the child barley knows right from wrong and any older than that the child will start to show resentment. you are never to hit in an angry way but just to let the child know that he/she has done wrong. once the child knows that a slap on the wrist or spanking is associated with with doing something wrong the child will be more likely Not to do something wrong.

Posted by guest
a resident of another community
on Jul 26, 2009 at 10:34 pm

I was spanked as a kid and teen too. I think it should be kept in our schools. The spanker should ALWAYS be the same gender as the kid, no exceptions. 3 - 10 hard swats with the paddle depending on age.

I have been reading the spanking blog, which is interesting. My only comment is that this is an area of educated people, but the misspellings and incorrect punctuation are a little puzzling. Maybe the offenders were either spanked too much, or not spanked enough.

My daughter just directed me to this thread. I was spanked as a child, so was my husband. We have two children, both adults now. Neither were ever spanked - not one time. We did remove privileges and that sort, but resolved early on to never spank either - and they truly great people and were not difficult to raise, even as teens.

Posted by Edwin
a resident of another community
on Apr 3, 2010 at 8:51 pm

I Canada it was the school strap to the hands. However there was this one woman teacher who spanked. Over the knee, in front of the entire classroom of boys and girls. She did it bare bottom once. Right there in front of everyone. The school strap was applied to me on one occasion. It was bare bottom in private. This was public school in the early 70's, I was 8. Her spankings were severe and cruel, sadistic and humiliating. I have many problems now because of it. I guess talking in class was an awful offence.

Posted by Bainter the Painter
a resident of Alamo
on Apr 4, 2010 at 1:30 pm

Spanking is not so bad. When I was a kid I was spanked or hit on the head every day just in case I did something wrong, like leave a ragged edge on the toilet paper or something. That made my ma and pa mad, so I tried to do better. But they would still hit me because I might be bad. We had nothing to eat but cold beans and warm kool-aid. Kids these days complain because they have to walk to school. When I was a kid we couldn't afford legs so ma and pa would kick me to school, even in the snow. Kids these days are spoiled. We didn't even have a color TV or ice.

Posted by Lianne
a resident of another community
on Apr 17, 2010 at 7:32 am

My mother got into trouble when I was 7. My aunt(single)took me in,and over her knee. Its just the way things were and the way she was. Mom didnt spank. one day during coffee with her friend,a church goer,the topic of discipline came up. I knew her boys and remember feeling uncomfortable when she openly explained in great detail how she makes them pull their pants right down when she spanks. How to do it,what to look for and how to know if its working etc. I was 9.
I knew what was coming the next time for me and sure enough she did it exactly as her friend had advised. I soon learned what her boys were going through. Being made to pull your own pants and panties down to your feet while holding my shirt up under my chin and then having to crawl across her lap. All very humiliating. Being taught to submit.
I tried to not cry but that was her goal,to spank me past the point of stubbornness and rebellion until I was sorry and not squirming and resisting on her lap any longer. At that point,once I stopped resisting,then the real spanking takes place and it continues until she is satisfied I am repentant.I dont know how many slaps but it was many,I would guess 40 plus easily was the norm. I learned quickly to not argue or resist and just take the spankings. And cry,I learned to cry to show submission and get it over sooner.
If I were to be punished for something and caught in a lie trying to avoid the spanking than the spanking was much worse. I was then forced to strip completely nude,not even socks. Over her lap where she would wet my bottom with a cloth but now use a heavy paddle instead of her hand. I never lied again. I got this many times for major mistakes. Many times an enema would follow.
Mom came and got me when I was 12 and I have never told her about how I was punished there,and never will. I never visited that house again. That was a long time ago and my aunt is long gone.
Looking back,I would honestly have to say Ive had a spanking fetish since I was about 10 years old. when I came home with a bad report card,begged for mercy from the paddle but had to submit to a woman I now know was definitely gay. I have to wonder what was done to her as a child.